Joe Manganiello has said that he struggled to get acting roles when he first came to Hollywood.

The True Blood star, who plays a stripper in the upcoming film Magic Mike, revealed that his impressive physique was considered to be too imposing for movie roles.

"I got to LA in 2000, when we were coming off the '90s: women looked like men and the men all looked like women," Manganiello told Men's Health. "I was constantly being told, 'You're too healthy', so there were four years where I essentially didn't work."

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

The 35-year-old went on to talk about his role in Magic Mike, saying that the female extras in the film were enthusiastic actresses.

"There are guys who are going to divorce their wives after they see what [these women] did as extras in this movie," Manganiello said. "We were... manhandling groups of 200 female extras every day."